The Carolina Mudcats fell 12-6 Friday to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in the first of a three-game road trip. The Mudcats jumped out to an early lead behind the bat of Ryan Battaglia, but were overpowered by the explosive Myrtle Beach offense.

In today’s edition of Minor Happenings, the IBI's Tony Lastoria takes a look at the emergence of Joseph Colon as a starting pitching prospect for the Indians, the significant strides he has made with his stuff over the past year and what his future holds with the Indians. He also looks at the good play of Tyler Holt and his role in the organization, provides a ton of comments from the front office on players at High-A Carolina and Low-A Lake County, and provides lots of insight, news and analysis on players such as Roberto Perez, D.J. Brown, Eric Haase, Cody Anderson, Ryan Merritt, Grant Fink and others.

It was a tale of two offensive explosions Thursday night. On one hand, the Akron RubberDucks erupted for 16 runs, led by a stellar performance from Bryson Myles. On the other hand, the Columbus Clippers allowed 18 runs, capped off by turning to Elliot Johnson to close out the game on the mound. Elsewhere, Adam Plutko made his Carolina League debut, Lake County *only* allowed eight runs (breaking the mold set by Akron and Columbus), and much more. Join Jim Piascik as he breaks it all down and takes you Around the Farm.

The Carolina Mudcats rallied from an early deficit to defeat the Wilmington Blue Rocks 6-4 on Thursday night at Five County Stadium. The Mudcats used a four-run fifth inning to take the lead, and they never looked back.

With the month of June approaching, it is likely the time worthy players will start earning promotions to the next level. Adam Plutko started the process, moving from Lake County to Carolina, but a few others look primed to make jumps of their own. Lake County infielder Paul Hendrix is one, as he continues to rake, as is fellow Captain Jordan Milbrath. However, Wednesday's headliner, Cole Sulser, is not as close to a promotion as Hendrix or Milbrath, but the right-hander was impressive in his own right. Join Jim Piascik as he analyzes Sulser's turnaround and much more as he takes you Around the Farm.

The Carolina Mudcats couldn't find their bats for the second straight night as they fell 3-0 to the Wilmington Blue Rocks Wednesday. The Mudcats’ fifth-straight defeat came down to a series of errors in the second inning and a failure to manufacture runs. Carolina's scoring drought now stands at twenty-six long innings.

Today is the first “stock watch” of the 2014 season for players in the Indians’ minor league system. This report is a snapshot of a few players up and down the system and how their value may be decreasing or increasing as prospects. The IBI's Tony Lastoria reviews over 20 performances to date from Columbus to Lake County and provides details as to whose prospect stock is falling, improving, or has not changed. Players reviewed include Roberto Perez, Giovanny Urshela, Austin Adams, Jordan Smith, Joseph Colon, Tyler Sturdevant, Ryan Merritt, Louis Head, Eric Haase, Robbie Aviles and many others.

The Carolina Mudcats started off the week by getting swept in a double header by the Wilmington Blue Rocks, which accurately summed up the week for the team. Carolina only managed two wins on the week, going 2-6. The IBI's Zachary Francis recaps the week that was, provides all the news and notes from the week and recently sat down with Todd Hankins to get his thoughts on his recent play of late.

The Carolina Mudcats suffered their fourth-straight home defeat in a 6-0 shutout loss to the Wilmington Blue Rocks on Tuesday night. The Blue Rocks broke the game open with multi-run innings late after stellar pitching from both teams kept the game scoreless early.

The Carolina Mudcats fell behind early before losing to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, 4-1. Carolina managed just four total hits in the game, compared to nine base knocks for the Pelicans. Starter Michael Peoples pitched six innings of two-hit ball, but did not receive enough run support on the way to his fifth loss of the season.

Despite leading 3-0 through seven innings, the Carolina Mudcats allowed the Myrtle Beach Pelicans to score five times in the final two innings to win 5-3 on Sunday night. With the score tied at three in the top of the ninth inning, the Pelicans scored twice with the bases loaded on a walk and a hit batsman to grab their first lead of the game.

The WAR Room is back again, bringing you the 2014 advanced stats for every Cleveland minor leaguer. After looking at the pitchers last week, today we focus on the hitters. It is still early enough that there is some noise in the numbers, but at this point in the season, we are starting to see some interesting trends emerge. Join Jim Piascik as he breaks down the continuing success of Francisco Lindor and Paul Hendrix, the Jose Ramirez experience in Columbus, and much more.

After taking a 2-1 lead, the Carolina Mudcats fell back before losing to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, 6-2. Carolina starter Shawn Morimando pitched six innings of four-hit, two-run ball, but the bullpen did him no favors as Rob Nixon pitched just two-thirds of an inning and gave up three hits and four runs. Carolina finished the game with 11 hits but three errors.

Whether he is staring down a 90 mph fastball or raucously rooting for his Cleveland sports teams, Anthony Gallas has always taken things pitch-by-pitch and day-by-day. While his path to greatness hasn’t always been clear, this approach has taken him and his Carolina Mudcats to new heights. The IBI's Daniel Kale recently caught up with Gallas and talked to him about his big season, his return from injury and more.

In today's massive-sized Minor Happenings that is well over 5000 words, the IBI's Tony Lastoria takes a look at how outfielder Tyler Naquin continues to improve every area of his game and really has just one question mark remaining and how he is working to answer that. He also provides a ton of quotes from Ross Atkins on players like Adam Plutko, Anthony Gallas, Francisco Lindor and others, takes a look at second baseman Claudio Bautista and why he is a prospect to keep an eye on, provides details into Robbie Aviles’ turnaround this season, and provides lots of news, insight and analysis on players like Frank Herrmann, Gabriel Arias, LeVon Washington, Dorssys Paulino and others.

The Columbus Clippers were on national television Thursday night, but the best story on the farm came from Ryan Merritt. The left-hander continued to impress in 2014 as he dominated in a unique way given the trends of today's game. In addition to Merritt, Lake County starter Dace Kime furthered his case that his early struggles are behind him, the Columbus bullpen essentially had open tryouts for the majors, Anthony Santander got two-thirds of Lake County's hits (not in a good way), and much more. Join Jim Piascik as he breaks it all down and takes you Around the Farm.

Ryan Merritt and the Carolina Mudcats ended a recent slump by beating the Wilmington Blue Rocks 3-2 on Thursday morning. A three-run fourth inning and another pitching gem from Merritt paved the way to victory for the Mudcats.

Things were not as crazy down on the farm Wednesday as they were at Progressive Field, but there were still plenty of interesting things goings on. Headlining the night was outfielder -- which is still a little weird to write -- Dorssys Paulino, who has returned to Lake County swinging well. He was joined by Tyler Naquin continuing his hot streak, Clayton Cook's first game in 25 months, and much more. Join Jim Piascik as he breaks it all down and takes you Around the Farm.

The Carolina Mudcats lost both games of a double header against the Wilmington Blue Rocks Wednesday. The first game ended with a 9-4 Wilmington victory, while the Blue Rocks came from behind to win 3-2 in game two. Carolina found itself up 2-0 going into the sixth inning of a seven-inning game, but gave up three runs in the final two frames to take the loss.

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!